Sheriff Adds ‘Mugshot Of The Day’ To Website

April 21st, 2011 by Staff

PHOENIX – Sheriff Joe Arpaio has found a new way to drive web traffic to his office’s site.
He has kicked off a “Mugshot of the Day” competition.

Seven mugshots are posted on the contest site, along with their running vote totals for the day. Monday’s “contestants” include a young woman accused of driving on a suspended license, a 59-year-old man accused of indecent exposure, and a man with tattoos wrapping his neck.

“I want people to tune in and see if their neighbor has been arrested,” said Arpaio. “We decided to draw more people to our web.â€

Arpaio said his website garners 800,000 visits a day.

CBS 5 asked Valley residents their opinion of the websiteâ€™s new feature.

“I think it’s ridiculous. He should focus more on his duties enforcing the law rather than things like this,â€ said John Jones. “Sheriff Joe’s always been that way. He’s always been looking for popularity.”

“I think it’s interesting. I don’t think it’s too outside the boundaries because with all the stuff on the Internet these days, you can pretty much vote for best anything,” said Trent Parcells.

“He’s a self promoter. That’s all he is. I mean, if he really wants to do something — how about that $99 million he just misspent rather than worry about these guys that are already in jail,” said Jim Zanzucchi.

“I have no problem with it. I think it’s very novel. The sheriff has always been innovative that way,” said Tom Armstrong.

Prior to the redesign, the mugshot section of the Sheriff’s Office site had a prominent disclaimer reminding viewers that the inmates pictured were presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. The new page has no such disclaimer.

Leave a Comment

Name

Mail (will not be published)

Website

Please note: Comment moderation is enabled and may delay your comment. There is no need to resubmit your comment. You are free to voice your opinion but please keep it clean. Any comments using profanity will be rejected.